spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online October 18, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 4398-4408 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02506
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Steinmann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Dangles, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Steinmann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Dangles, O.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Air-flow sensitive hairs: boundary layers in oscillatory flows around arthropod appendages

T. Steinmann1, J. Casas1,*, G. Krijnen2 and O. Dangles1

1 Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte-UMR CNRS 6035, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université François Rabelais, Parc de Grandmont Avenue Monge, 37200 Tours, France
2 MESA+ Research Institute, Transducers Science and Technology group Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: jerome.casas{at}univ-tours.fr)

Accepted 22 August 2006

The aim of this work is to characterize the boundary layer over small appendages in insects in longitudinal and transverse oscillatory flows. The problem of immediate interest is the early warning system in crickets perceiving flying predators using air-flow-sensitive hairs on cerci, two long appendages at their rear. We studied both types of oscillatory flows around small cylinders using stroboscopic micro-particle image velocimetry as a function of flow velocity and frequency. Theoretical predictions are well fulfilled for both longitudinal and transverse flows. Transverse flow leads to higher velocities than longitudinal flow in the boundary layer over a large range of angles between flow and cylinder. The strong spatial heterogeneity of flow velocities around filiform-shaped appendages is a rich source of information for different flow-sensing animals. Our results suggest that crickets could perceive the direction of incoming danger by having air-flow-sensitive hairs positioned around their entire cerci. Implications for biomimetic flow-sensing MEMS are also presented.

Key words: viscous boundary layer, hair biomechanics, cercal system, cricket, flow sensing, sensor design


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006